Recalling a worthy wait

Photo by CHRIS BOSAK White-throated sparrows are regular visitors to New England bird feeders during the winter.

Photo by CHRIS BOSAK White-throated sparrows are regular visitors to New England bird feeders during the winter.

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Photo by CHRIS BOSAK White-throated sparrows are regular visitors to New England bird feeders during the winter.

Photo by CHRIS BOSAK White-throated sparrows are regular visitors to New England bird feeders during the winter.

Recalling a worthy wait

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By CHRIS BOSAK

For the Birds

"Andrew, you're going to be late. Hurry and get your shoes on. You can't miss the school bus. Come on already."

Truth be told, Andrew has plenty of time to catch the bus. I just want him to hurry so we can hang out on the driveway longer waiting for the bus. Those 10 minutes we spend together each morning are a highlight of my day.

We toss the football, kick the soccer ball, throw a baseball around -- pretty much anything sports related. If we can't find a ball to play with, we make use of the resources available to us. On more than one occasion he's taken "batting practice" by hitting hickory nuts with a stick we found on the ground.

We also watch the seasons change. We notice the first daffodils poking out of the ground after a long, frozen winter. We see the first leaves develop in late winter and watch the last ones fall off next autumn. We peel the green casings off the hickory nuts that cover the driveway after a windy night.

We -- well, more me, but let's stick with "we" -- also watch for birds. It's usually pretty quiet in terms of birdwatching, despite the early hour. Our bird feeders are on the opposite side of the property. Our neighbors have feeders closer, but Andrew and I have inadvertently scared those birds off already.

The most common sightings are red-tailed hawks soaring overhead or a lone chickadee or titmouse flitting among the nearby trees. We'll often hear blue jays squawking or red-bellied woodpeckers calling nearby, but those birds are not always found. Besides, I risk getting hit in the head with a baseball if I scan the treetops too long and Andrew doesn't realize I'm not paying attention to the game at hand.

A few weeks ago -- for one day anyway -- that all changed. The end of the driveway became Bird Central for the morning. Andrew hardly got to run any pass patterns we were so preoccupied with the birds.

Before he dropped his backpack at the end of the driveway, we had already seen chickadees, titmice and nuthatches. Two nuthatches did their "yank, yank" songs in a tree right next to us. The best way to learn a bird song is to actually watch the bird doing it, so I had Andrew watch the birds for a few moments. I sent him on a "down-and-out" pass pattern before he ran out of patience with the nuthatches.

Before long a downy woodpecker joined the chickadees and titmice, and a red-bellied woodpecker swooped into a tree higher than the smaller birds. We heard blue jays in the near distance and Andrew identified them by sound. A moment later, three blue jays flew overhead.

As I threw Andrew another down-and-out, I noticed a monstrous bird flying over the house in our direction. The turkey vulture, soaring not much higher than the treetops, flew over our heads close enough that we were able to see its bald, red head.

"Whoa. That was cool," Andrew said.

Well said, I must admit.

Finally, we looked in the distance and saw the unmistakable red of a cardinal against the backdrop of a snow-covered scene. White-throated sparrows covered the ground near the distant feeders. A good birding morning, for sure.

Alas, the school bus arrived, Andrew ran to his backpack, waved goodbye and climbed on the bus.

The whole thing lasted about 10 minutes, but it carried me through the day.

For the Birds runs Thursdays in The Hour. Chris Bosak can be reached at bozclark@earthlink.net or via his website www.birdsofnewengland.com